Beholding Whispers

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One of my favorite things to do is to go for a walk by the beach. It’s one of the blessings of living in Southern California that the beach is close and so fulfilling this desire is easily accomplished. To me, the ocean is such a mesmerizing place. It simultaneously resounds with tranquility and with power. The stillness of nature echoes with the call to remember the truly important things in life, while at the same time the crash of the waves shouts with tumult and conviction. One can feel utterly at peace and utterly powerless at the same time.

It’s hard to stand at the ocean’s door without giving thought to the One who created both its beauty and its dominance. With His words, He spoke it into being (Gen. 1:9-10) and it’s an impressive reminder of both HIs power and His love. After all, it was in the midst of tossing waves that Jesus demonstrated His command over them. And at the same time, it was in this same setting that He demonstrated how He provides for those He loves (Mark 435-41).

Yet, as Job 26:14 reminds us, as much as the wave and the wind demonstrate God’s majesty, they are just whispers of His might. His creation reflects Him, but does not paint the complete picture of His supremacy. What we experience here on Earth is just the breath of His glory. What we know of Him, is just the beginning of what He can do.

This shouldn’t diminish our appreciation of the whispers. They are, after all, reflections of the One who created us, loves us, and sacrificed His Son on our behalf. However, may we not think that these whispers are the culmination of God’s work. There is much more that He can, and will, do.

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Little Lies

“In your eyes, I am complete”

“She saved my soul from the devil”

“I could not ask for more”

“Forever and ever, never will part”

For music fans, all of the above quotations can be rightly attributed to a song that includes it. The songs range from Pop to Country to Oldies and they all share one common denominator…they all contain lies.

Now, most people will sing along to these songs without any strike of conscience. And maybe that’s normal. But for thinking people, especially thinking Christians, we have to consider the impact of the words and the thoughts that we allow to infiltrate the way we perceive the world. After all, as Scripture says “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). If this is true, then even the words we say carelessly, maybe especially so, gives us revelations about our heart. And if we unthinkingly repeat untruths just because they are set to a catchy tune, what does that say about us?

Because you see, the challenge with these little lies is that most of the time we don’t recognize them as such. We think that someone else really can complete us, or that they can save our soul, give us all that we’ve ever wanted, or will be with us for always. However the only being that all of these can really be attributed to is God. When we place someone else in God’s place, we are exchanging Him for something less than Him. In other words, we are creating and serving an idol – a caricature of what God offers that can only be expected to disappoint.

The logic may seem extreme, which is maybe the point. We don’t recognize the seriousness of “little lies” and that is why they can often have the greatest damage.

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